Emily our guide, outside the first stop where she explained the three tiers of Chocolatier. The first being simple retail shops selling packaged chocolate, the second which buy the chocolate wholesale then melt it and use various ingredients and molds for their own custom chocolates, and the third which control the whole chocolate making process from the cacao beans up to the final product.

We then headed inside to sample some tasty Belgian chocolate at Chocopolis.

The mixture of vanilla and chilli flavours in the dark chocolate were very complex and really confused and teased the taste buds.

We then walked up to Place de la Justice where there were an array of flags that were part of a piece of art by French conceptual artist Daniel Buren.

The chocolatier is known for his creativity in chocolate sculptures, including this giant pair of chocolate boots!

The normal sized chocolates were very delicious too, with a intriguing combination of lemon & basil.

The smaller boxes of chocolates were €20 and the larger box in the front was €96.

Just across the road was our next chocolate stop, with the building covered in a eye-catching big bunches of flowers. Emily said that they regularly decorate the building in various ways.

Pierre Marcolini, named after its founder, was established in Brussels in 1995 and now has 30 stores internationally including London, Tokyo and Paris.

We got to try three different types of chocolate, including the Earl Grey which consisted of dark chocolate with a hint of citrusy tea.

We then continued our walk through the city, stopping at a section of the old city walls.

On our way down Rue du Chêne to admire a mural of the Manneken Peace.

And joining the crowds to take a photo of the famous statue of a boy taking a pee, Manneken Pis. Due to frequent theft and vandalism, this statue is only a copy with the original safely kept on display on the second floor of the Museum of the City of Brussels.

Emily described it as a typical 'Brown Bar', i.e. old with a ceiling and walls that is dark or stained brown from tobacco smoke. She then lifted a picture frame to show the clean, unstained wall behind it!

Our fifth beer was a Tripel from Westmalle Brewery. It was also a designated Trappist beer, being brewed within the walls of a Trappist monastery. Another very strong beer at 9.5%.

And our final beer of the night, Trappistes Rochefort 10. A Quadrupel beer at a whopping 11.3%. I didn't even realise beer was made this strong!

After the ample beer sampling I was definitely a little tipsy! The almost 5 hour tour was great value for €75 each, and thoroughly recommended if you find yourself in Brussels and are wanting to sample some tasty and interesting Belgian chocolate and beer.

Day 4.

After a good sleep in and a decent morning run around the streets of Brussels I went out to grab some breakfast at a nearby EXKi health café / restaurant.

And the Port of Bruges in the distance to the north. Fortunately there was ample wire netting so no chance of falling from the top (In Bruges reference #2).

I was able to check in to the hotel at 3pm. The room was pretty average and a bit dated but for €99 it was fine for one night and the hotel was situated just behind the Belfry so very central.

After crashing out at the hotel for abit, I went out for a walk in the late afternoon.

Bruges City Hall on the Burg. Completed in 1421, it is one of the oldest city halls in the Netherlands.

Looking over the Dijver canal. Unfortunately no passing barges to make a quick getaway though (In Bruges reference #3).

Both tourists and locals out enjoying the summer evening.

After the substantial lunch I wasn't too hungry so had a Belgian waffle for €4 with strawberries and chocolate for a very sweet and tasty dinner.

I then headed back to the hotel for an early night to get some sleep before the early morning sightseeing over the centre of Bruges tomorrow.

Day 5.

This plan for this morning of day was for a balloon flight over the middle of Bruges. After a 6am pickup from my hotel, I arrived at the take-off point on the western outskirts of town.

Christophe our pilot (and owner of the company) giving us a safety briefing before our flight. They had to cancel a flight the day before so today's group was slightly bigger than normal.

Helping out with the inflation.

Christophe finetuning the balloon inflation with the basket now upright. He said that we would be flying in Belgium's biggest balloon today.

Just after lift-off with a morning train just beyond the maize fields.

Looking down on the outskirts of Bruges.

The inner Port of Bruges with a canal leading to the nearby Port of Zeebrugge. In the distance we could see the North Sea to the left, the Netherlands to the right and just behind us we could faintly see hills in northern France.

For breakfast I grabbed a chocolate waffle and a Bifi sausage from a vending machine.

The 8:08am to Brussels Airport train pulling into the station.

After making it to Brussels Airport there was a security checkpoint with people and baggage being screened before entering the airport. There was a bit of a queue but luckily I looked innocuous enough to be selected to bypass security altogether.

At check-in where I used a kiosk to print out my boarding passes to Frankfurt and Dubai.

When I reached airside there was a bit of confusion as there was another Lufthansa flight to Brussels boarding at the same designated gate as my LH flight to Brussels. I wasn't the only person to join the queue to board the wrong plane though and they soon updated the departure board with the correct gate.

Upon boarding the plane I was expecting for my boarding pass to be checked. Instead the flight attendant had a handful of muesli bars and was handing one out to each of the passengers.

There was enough time on the short flight though to serve hot coffee and tea.

On a seemingly never ending travelator after arriving back at Frankfurt International Airport.

After passing through the automated passport gates I was handed a voucher for a souvenir piece of the German Autobahn in dutyfree.

A great view from the airport foodcourt of two very grand looking Lufthansa Boeing 747-800's.

To use up my last euro coins I bought my first ever McRib from the nearby McDonalds. 'GESCHMACKSCOLLTREFFER!' was emblazoned across the top of the box in all caps and apparently translates to taste hit.

Boarding the Lufthana A330 for Dubai via the rear.

And back home in Dubai after a great trip to Frankfurt, Luxembourg City, Brussels, Bruges and Ghent!